ITP.net's tech 2017 round-up: January

The technology industry is at the centre of an ongoing wave of change, from emerging technologies stealing the limelight to cybercriminals determined to find new ways of exploiting organisations.

The year has not shied away from regional and international acquisitions to renowned companies facing bankruptcy and scandal. 2017 also welcomed a range of smartphones from high-end devices to classic handsets being reinvented to suit today's market.

From a regional perspective, 2017 became the year for the e-commerce sector to mark its space, plus flying taxis also became a reality and cybercrime showed no signs of slowing down.

ITP.net delves into some of the biggest regional and global IT stories from the year, covering all the doom and gloom.

Cybersecurity firm Keeper investigated the most common passwords used in 2016, and it is safe to say the researchers weren't too pleased. The password that topped the 2016 list was 123456 - take a look at the worst passwords here, if you see your, change it immediately!

The month ended with UAE's telecom company du announcing a restructure which meant shedding ‘tens' of jobs. However as part of the announcement, du CEO Osman Sultan revealed that Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co (EITC), the holding company for du, was to launch Virgin Mobile in the region. This move meant the region would soon have three mobile operators.